Goldilocks and The Three Bears

Today's plan was to read Goldilocks and The Three Bears, which we did, several time throughout the day as the children kept asking for it again and again, I had put together a story box for them to use as well.

I loved the fact that one of them went of and rummaged through the duplo box, to find something that had a door, so Goldilocks could knock on it first.

In the afternoon they took the story box outside and used one of the small plastic tables as a house, with the bedroom being on the table and chairs etc being underneath the table, brilliant use of imagination.

I attempted to dye some jumbo oats, it didn't go quite to plan, I added some dye and mixed, the same as I did for the coloured rice but as the oats are a lot more absorbent you needed rather a lot. Got to the stage were I didn't want to add any more liquid as it was going a bit soggy in places. So the dyed oats, didn't end up the vibrantly coloured, as I had pictured my head but a mixture of coloured and uncoloured oats. The children enjoyed playing with it anyway, they started of by sprinkling and mixing it, chatting about what they were doing, then patting it down, later on they made paths through it and beds for the bears and one little one decided to put some in a bowl to feed a toy cat as they were  hungry.

We then made some flapjack, I thought I would share our recipe, it makes two trays (8" by 10")

500g rolled oats

225g margarine 

225g golden syrup

180g sugar

Put golden syrup, sugar and margarine in a pan and gently melt over a low heat.

Weigh out oats and tip them into a large bowl, then carefully pour in the melted syrup/marge mixture and mix all together.

Line your baking tins and spoon out the mixture and flatten down.

Bake for about 20 minutes at gas 3, leave to cool for a bit but I find it's best to cut them into slices while the mixture is still warm.

They enjoyed mixing all the ingredients.

Putting it into the tins

and trying to smooth it all down.

They did a very good job of sweeping up after them

and an even better job of sampling their baking.

Part two activities can be found here

Bears Theme

This our theme for the next couple of weeks and some of my planning ideas, I have 100's more going round my head at the moment, ok maybe 100 is slight exaggeration! As I blog about each activity I will put the links at the bottom for each post so in theory it will all tie up together and I can find everything if in the future I decide to do a bear theme again.

Some of the stories we will be reading.

The children enjoyed the story and activities to go with Goldilocks and The Three Bears, some more activities here.

Our teddy bears picnic.

Were Going On A Bear Hunt - tuff spot play scene
                                       map making and using map activity
                                             Bear hunt obstacle course
                                       Bear paw print biscuits and recipe
                                                 Bear hunt story box
Our tuff spot scene to explore where different bears might live can be found here.
Our activities for Jesse Bear What Will You Wear, can be found here

Allotment and Garden

We love to spend time in the garden, the children enjoying growing and planting out their own plants and of course a trip to the allotment. This time of year it's lovely as there are lots of raspberries, loganberries and strawberries to pick.

Just a few of the strawberries we have had and there are plenty more ripening.

Mind you we do have a rather large patch of strawberries, this picture is just under half our patch.

Along with our strawberries, we have loganberries, gooseberries, jostaberries, redcurrants and some blueberry bushes. Unfortunately the pigeons seem to have eaten all the gooseberries this year.

                            

I came across this bug, which I'm pretty sure is a ladybird larvae.

At home we have 3 grape vines, the children will have a real treat later in the year when they are ripened and they can pop out and pick their own bunch of grapes.

Our chickens love to try and escape their run and eat the plums, it's happened more than once but luckily the tree is getting bigger each year so it is harder for them to get at the fruit.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of one of our neighbouring allotments, they've given it up and it is a vacant plot that has gone to seed but the poppies, corn flowers and love in the mist looked so lovely I had to take a couple of photos.

I am happy to finally see some more flowers finally appearing in the garden, the children love to smell the mint and lavender, as well as watching all the insects they attract.

Cooking and Games

We enjoyed a cooking session today, we made, what the children call crackers but it's more of a simple flat bread. It rolls out easily and isn't sticky and a major plus, once it's been cut out it doesn't fall apart as the children transport to the baking tray. Baking and or cooking with children is a great sensory experience all the smells, textures and watching how things change as you mix, knead, cook etc oh and of course tasting the final product.

        Home Made Cracker Recipe

400g plain flour

                                                                     2.5ml salt

                                                                     225ml water

Mix all the ingredients together and then knead well on a floured worktop for 10 minutes.

Roll out the dough, the thinner the better and use cutters to cut out your chosen shape.

Place on a baking tray and prick all over.

Bake at Gas 4 for 8 to 10 minutes or until a little crispy around the edges.

They store well in an air tight container and my after schoolers love these as a snack.

Then off to practise some fine motor skills, a great way to develop some of the muscles in the hand for later skills like holding and controlling a pencil.

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the water trays, paddling pool and washing the dolls clothes and a few stories.